Thunder Claps
by Stormy Daye
Summary: Skye's daughter Hope is searching for answers. Book 4 in Jamieson series. **COMPLETE!!!**
1. Prologue

Prologue  
  
I guess you could say I grew up in a sheltered world. I lived in a small town. Not much happened in Duncan, Ontario. Not much happened in Ontario period. But I loved it here. It was quiet and peaceful by the lake where we lived. I liked to take the small motorboat we had out and just let myself drift around. I even found a little cave at the far East end of the lake one day when I was fourteen. It was made of willow trees and the side of a cliff that had been worn away by the waves. There was a shore under the cave that I sat on often to just think. I liked to be alone a lot.  
  
I loved my family very much but they could get a little overbearing sometimes. My mother was so overprotective; it sometimes felt like I was being suffocated. If I was just going to be home late because of an art club meeting she would have to make sure she knew the phone number for the school and what the supervising teacher's name was.  
  
My father, worked a lot at the store in town that he owned with his brother, my uncle. He was always asking me to remind my friends when they had sales or special deals on. Sometime I just wanted to tell him to do his own advertising but I knew it would hurt his feelings. He was a sensitive guy. Always eager to please every person he met. I think it was because of something that happened between him and mom a long time ago but they would never tell me what happened. He was especially worried about doing something wrong around mom. You'd think after twenty years of marriage that he'd learn to be more comfortable around her. But he was just as protective of mom as she was of me.  
  
My brother, Colin was five years younger than me and kind of a pain. He liked to follow me around and I always had to be careful when I was going out to my cave. I didn't need him telling my mom where I went when she wasn't paying attention. I knew she would tell me it was too dangerous to go out there, especially in the winter.  
  
My mother's stepbrother, Tyler was always trying to hang out with me and be the "cool uncle". He tried so hard and I hated hurting his feelings but sometimes he could be kind of weird. On my fourteenth birthday Tyler had gotten me a map of Toronto. Mom hadn't been very happy about it and she took Tyler into the other room to talk to him. When he was in high school he had been a skateboarder. Mom told me that he was good enough to enter competitions and win, but one day he had just stopped skating. It was like he just lost interest in it. He was thirty-one years old now and he still lived in the house with us. Mom never asked him to leave so Dad didn't either.  
  
The only family member who knew about my cave was my cousin, Greg. He was my uncle Anthony's son. We were very close. We were born very close together and we liked to have birthday parties together usually at my house. He lived in town in a small house. His mother was Tyler's sister Erin. My mother didn't get along very well with her but she never objected to me spending time with Greg.  
  
I knew somehow that there were a lot of secrets surrounding my family. I always felt a tension during Christmas when we were all together in the same house. Especially between Erin, Uncle Anthony and Mom.  
  
Right now I just wanted to finish my last year of high school and then go off to college. But sometimes, as my mother always liked to remind me, things don't always go as planned. 


	2. Chapter One

Chapter One  
  
"Hope!" I heard my mother call from the house. I was sitting on the dock where the motorboat was tied. I wanted to take a trip out to my cave but it was the middle of November and my mother wouldn't be very happy if I went out when there were ice drifts in the lake.  
  
I stood up and brushed my jeans off. I trudged back to the house wondering what my beloved mother wanted now. She was always calling to me and making up some excuse about needing me to do something for her, but I knew she just wanted to make sure I was safe. She even called my friends houses when I stayed the night to make sure I hadn't been snatched away by some unknown person she was always looking over she shoulder for.  
  
She was standing on the porch with her hands on her hips. She was a very beautiful woman even though she was in her late forties. She had long wavy dark brown hair, just like mine. She usually kept her hair down so it cascaded down her back in shiny waves. She was starting to get some grays but she would just pull them out if she spotted one. She was a vain person, but her hair was her pride and joy and she liked to keep it young.  
  
"Where have you been?" she asked, her forehead creased in worry. I thought she should just have those lines tattooed onto her forehead since they were there most of the time anyways.  
  
"At the dock," I said, "I only got home twenty minutes ago," I brushed past her into the house.  
  
"You knew we were going to out up the decorations for yours and Greg's birthday party tonight," Mom said, coming into the house behind me.  
  
"We have the whole night mom, don't worry," I said. Her protectiveness was really getting on my nerves tonight.  
  
"Greg, Anthony and Erin are coming for dinner tonight, I want it to be nice," Mom told me. She had already told me this about fifty times but it was like she just forgot right after she told me. When she told me something more than once it usually meant she was nervous about it. She was always nervous when Uncle Anthony and Aunt Erin came over. It was weird since Anthony was Daddy's brother and Erin was her stepsister.  
  
"Okay mom, I guess I'll go get ready then," I said and headed for the stairs and my bedroom.  
  
My room was the same one I'd had since I was born. The paint colour had been changed a few times but it was still the same old room to me. It had a canopy bed and a matching dresser and desk. I had a walk in closet and my own bathroom. My closet was full of clothes and shoes. I had never wanted for anything in my entire life. I had everything I ever needed and more.  
  
I gazed at myself in the mirror and wondered for about the billionth time if this was really where I belonged. I loved living in Duncan but I always felt out of place with the small town people. I wanted to live in a big city for just a little while.  
  
My large hazel eyes stared back at me through the mirror. Those eyes that had just appeared out of nowhere. No one that I knew of in my family had hazel eyes. I had asked mom about it a couple times but she always answered in a far off dreamy voice that one of Daddy's relatives must have had hazel eyes. I believed her when I was younger but now I wasn't so sure. Why did I always feel like she was keeping something from me?  
  
I took a quick shower and put my dark hair in a ponytail. I put on a knee length jean skirt and a green sweater. I was happy that Greg was coming over. I didn't see him very much at school since we didn't have any of the same classes.  
  
My mother had insisted a couple of days ago that we have a joint party for our seventeenth birthdays. His birthday was only three days after mine. He didn't have any brothers or sisters but didn't envy me for having a little brother. He saw how much Colin liked bugging me and was thankful to have a quiet house all to himself and his parents.  
  
"Their here!" Colin yelled bursting into my room. He never knocked. I begged for a lock on my door but mom refused always saying it was not what a close loving family did. But I didn't want to be so close to my brother that I didn't scream when he walked in on me changing.  
  
Colin was a cute kid I'll have to admit. He is only twelve but you could already tell he was going to be one of those heartthrob guys that all the girls at school had a crush on. He had dark hair like both mom and Daddy. His eyes were deep blue just like Daddy's and Uncle Anthony. They were fraternal twins and looked vaguely alike but not so much that you couldn't tell them apart.  
  
I hurriedly put on some mascara and followed my brother downstairs. All the adults were already in the den talking. Greg was sitting beside his mother looking more than a little bored. All the adults usually talked about was how the store was doing or what the weather was like. It was as if anything about their pasts was forbidden territory.  
  
I remember one time when Greg and I were only ten, we liked to listen to our parents' conversations. We were eager to know what grown ups talked about all the time. Greg asked why his Grandfather wasn't coming for dinner. All the adults stopped and stared at Greg with a surprised look on all their faces. Neither of us had ever met any of out Grandparents. Of course we were going to wonder about them.  
  
"You know you Grandfather is in Heaven son," Anthony said after a minute. They all went back to talking about the how weather would be for the next month and tried not to look like the question hadn't shook them up.  
  
"Hello Hope," Uncle Anthony, said when he saw me standing in the doorway.  
  
"Hello Uncle Anthony," I said and smiled.  
  
"Come and sit down dear," Mom said patting the spot on the couch beside her. Daddy was sitting to her left and Colin was sitting at his feet. I wondered where Tyler was for a minute but stopped when I remembered how things usually went when he was around. He tended to mention the past too much for Mom liking and the conversation would stop often in an uncomfortable silence until Mom took him into another room to have a talk with him.  
  
I went in and sat down beside my mother. I looked across the room at Greg. He was stared at me intently and his gaze softened a little when I smiled at him.  
  
Greg looked a lot like Erin in some ways and a lot like Anthony in others. He had his father's dark hair and blue eyes and his mother's nose and mouth. He kept his hair a little longer than a lot of the other boys at school. He liked to wear vintage T-shirts and he always wore jeans. When he and I were younger he used to like hanging around Tyler. He used to ask him all sorts of questions about skateboarding. Tyler usually just gave him quick answers or ignored him altogether. Eventually Greg stopped asking him questions.  
  
Greg wasn't a skateboarder, he tried it but he just didn't have very good balance. He loved watching all the competition tapes that Tyler had stacked in his room.  
  
"Are you excited about you birthday party tomorrow?" Erin asked both Greg and me.  
  
"Yes," I said. Greg answered in the same way.  
  
"Not very talkative tonight you two?" Daddy said smiling, "You guys don't have to sit here and listen to us boring adults talk,"  
  
I jumped up right away, trying not to look too relieved about being allowed to leave.  
  
"Just be back in a half and hour for dinner," Mom called after us as we hurried out of the room together.  
  
"Are you excited about the party?" Greg asked once we were out sitting on the dock. The sun was already setting quickly and it was getting colder with the brisk wind coming off the lake.  
  
"Oh yeah, it's gonna be great having a bunch of people form school that I don't even like coming over," I said sarcastically. My mother had invited the children of people she knew from in town. I wasn't exactly one of the most popular girls at school, so my guest list didn't turn out to be as large as mom would have liked so she helped me plump it up a little.  
  
"Hey come on, it could be fun having Becky Newman and James Walters making out on the steps," Greg said laughing. Becky and James were "the couple" at the local high school. They were notorious for being invited to every party and spending the whole time making out on some set of stairs. Even if the house was only one level they found a flight of stairs.  
  
"At least I'll have you there to keep me company," I grumbled. I hadn't wanted to have this party in the first place but mom insisted.  
  
"Look on the bright side," Greg said leaning back on his hands, "We'll get lots of free stuff,"  
  
I punched him in the arm, "Greedy Greg," I called him.  
  
"I guess we better get back in there before they run out of countries to talk weather about," Greg said standing up. He reached down and grabbed my hand, hauling me up onto my feet.  
  
We trudged back into the house together arm in arm. I knew that as long as I had Greg I could handle anything even a birthday party full of people I didn't even like. We would get through it together. Sometimes in the back of my mind, I wished that Greg wasn't my cousin, but he was so I had to push that though away and face reality. Sometimes I really hated reality. 


	3. Chapter Two

Chapter Two  
  
The morning of my birthday party, Mom woke me up at 8:00am. I grumbled and pulled the blankets back over my head.  
  
"C'mon sleepy head, get up!" she cried excitedly. She was always like this when I had birthday parties. She always went way overboard on special occasions. Ever since I was seven and I had my first real birthday party she had woken me up early and we would go out and buy all our decorations and everything we needed. We'd spend the whole day preparing for the big event.  
  
It was like she thought if she had a party for me then I wouldn't go out and leave her. She was always afraid I would leave her.  
  
"No, Mom, I'm tired," I mumbled into the pillow.  
  
She grabbed my bedspread and ripped it off me. She had turned the lights on and pulled up the blinds. I groaned and curled up in a ball.  
  
"Get up! Get up!" she said, "We're going to pick up Greg to help us!"  
  
I opened my eyes slowly to get used to the light.  
  
"C'mon Hope, we don't have much time!" she said. She nudged me on the shoulder.  
  
"Fine, I'm getting up, just leave me alone," I grumbled.  
  
"Okay, hurry up!" she said happily. She cheerfulness this early in the morning was really irritating. I was not a morning person. I never knew where that came from either. Dad, Mom and Colin were always up before eight, even on the weekends. I liked to take my time dragging myself out of bed so it wasn't such a shock.  
  
I got out of bed a couple of minutes later and showered. I put on a sweatshirt and jeans and went downstairs. I was sure that our cook Roberta would have something special for me for my birthday. Roberta had been working for us ever since my mother moved here a few years before I was born.  
  
"HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" everyone screamed as I walked into the dining room. My mother snapped a couple of pictures.  
  
"Mom, please, I'll get enough of that tonight," I said frowning for every picture she took.  
  
"Just humour her," Daddy said as he gave me a hug.  
  
Our maid and my mother's best friend, Rachel and her husband Wesley were sitting at the table already laughing at my mother.  
  
Rachel had been working for us just as long as Roberta had and when she married Wesley he became our unofficial butler and chauffeur. I loved them both like family, since I had grown up with them.  
  
Tyler was sitting in his usual chair. He was staring at the middle of the table with a strange smile on his face.  
  
"Good morning Uncle Tyler," I said to him.  
  
He looked up like he was surprised someone had talked to him, "Happy Birthday Skye," he said. He sometimes got my mother and I confused. He never really seemed to be paying attention when I talked to him. It was as if he was always thinking about something else. He would stare into space and say something absentmindedly. It was kind of creepy sometimes.  
  
Roberta made waffles with whip cream and strawberries, my favourite. My mother calmed down long enough to let me eat breakfast without having a flash blinding me every five seconds.  
  
"Okay, we have to get going," Mom said when everyone was done eating.  
  
"Can I come?" Colin asked eagerly.  
  
"No, honey, this is Hope's day remember?" Mom said.  
  
"We are going to wrap her presents while they are gone," Daddy reminded him. This is what we did every year. One person got the birthday guy or girl out of the house while the others wrapped their presents. It was our routine.  
  
Mom and I got into the car and drove us into town. We went to Greg's house first to pick him up. I wondered how Mom had got him to agree to go shopping with us.  
  
"Can you go get him Hun?" she asked when we were stopped in front of his house. She would avoid going into their house every chance she got. She didn't like to have too much extra contact with Uncle Anthony and Aunt Erin. I never really knew why she didn't like them very much.  
  
I was about to ring to doorbell when Greg stepped out. I heard someone yell in the back round.  
  
"Why can't you just get rid of it? It has been almost twenty years!" I heard Erin scream.  
  
Greg shut the door quickly before I could hear anything else.  
  
"What was that about?" I asked him.  
  
"Oh just another of their many fights," he said but he didn't look at me when he said it. He seemed embarrassed that I had heard his parents fighting so I didn't push it.  
  
"Good morning Greg, how are you?" Mom asked when we got in the car.  
  
"Fine, and you?" he said.  
  
"Great, we are going to have so much fun today, I know it!" she said happily. I wanted to remind her that all we were doing was getting some streamers and a couple cases of pop, but I kept my mouth shut. She didn't get this excited very often and I didn't want to ruin it for her. Despite how protective and sometimes annoying she could be, I still loved her.  
  
We shopped all morning. We even drove an hour to the city to get the cake and a few different kinds of decorations that they didn't have in Duncan. I begged my mother not to go to the city. It really wasn't that important to me to have a certain kind of balloons. But she insisted on it, so we had to go.  
  
Greg and I walked around in the mall for a while by ourselves. I noticed a few girls look at him and whisper to eachother. They would keep glancing back and then they would giggle. I knew he was good looking. A lot of girls at our school had huge crushes on him. Even my best friend, Carly, had been in love with him since the eighth grade. Some girls even tried to be friends with me to get closer to him. He was pretty shy at school and hadn't had very many girlfriends.  
  
"All the girls love you," I would tease him.  
  
"No they don't," he would say and his face would turn bright red. He was so modest. He never believed that anyone liked him.  
  
He wasn't the most popular guy at school because he was shy and liked to keep to himself, but then again I wasn't the most popular girl at school either. We hung out together at school a lot. We were pretty close for cousins.  
  
"Those girls over there are staring at you," I told him, smiling. I already knew he would refuse to look over there and ignore me while his face got redder and redder. But he didn't do that. He turned away from the book he was looking at and turned to the girls. He actually smiled at them.  
  
"Greg!" I said, surprised, "What just happened?" he never smiled at girls, unless it was me or he was just meeting someone. He was so shy, he didn't like to put himself out in the open like he had just done.  
  
"I thought I might want to bring a date to the party since you'll have Jason there," he said not looking at me. Jason Carter was my almost boyfriend. We had gone out together a couple of times and I was really starting to like him. His father owned the only grocery store in town.  
  
"So you thought you'd pick up some girl at the mall?" I said.  
  
"No, I already have someone to bring, I just wanted to smile at them," he said. He turned to me and looked into my eyes as if he was looking for my approval. I stood there staring at him for a minute and then I turned away. I felt a tiny pang out jealousy in my stomach. I knew I had no right to be jealous. Greg was my cousin and I already had a boyfriend.  
  
"Who?" I asked as casually as I could.  
  
"Carly," he said.  
  
I turned back to him, "What? She didn't tell me!" I cried. Greg was full of surprises today. I didn't even know he liked Carly. He usually told me everything.  
  
"I just called her this morning," he said. He smiled a little, "You told me she liked me,"  
  
"Yeah but, I didn't think you would just go and call her up," I said.  
  
"Well I did and she was already going to the party of course but now I'm going to pick her up before I come over," he smiled, showing off his perfectly white teeth and the dimple in his left cheek that always showed when he smiled. "That's.that's great," I said, trying to sound happy for him.  
  
He didn't seem to notice my half-hearted smile.  
  
We left the mall and I sat silently in the front beside Mom. We took Greg home and then went back to the house to do the decorating.  
  
"Jason and Carly called while you were gone," Rachel told me when I got in carrying three huge bags full of chips.  
  
"Okay thanks Rachel," I said. I set the bags down and went upstairs to call them back.  
  
"Hello?" Carly picked up on the second ring.  
  
"So, I heard you had a date for the big party," I said.  
  
"Hope!" she said, "Yeah, Greg told you?" she didn't sound surprised that I knew before she told me. She knew how close Greg and I were.  
  
"He did, congratulations," I said laughing.  
  
"Thank you!" she gushed, "I'm so excited,"  
  
I really was happy for Carly even if I was disappointed at the same time. She had been my best friends since grade six when she moved with her mother to Duncan. On the first day of school I saw her on the jungle gym on the playground. She was all by herself and she looked sad. I had never been shy about talking to new people so I went over to her. We had been best friends ever since.  
  
We talked for a couple more minutes until my mother called up for me to come down and help her with the decorations.  
  
"I gotta go and decorate, but I'll see you tonight," I said and hung up. I sat on my bed for a minute and stared at the picture of Greg and I on the dock. We were thirteen years old and ready to go fishing. We both had our overalls and t-shirts on. Daddy had taken the picture before our annual fishing trip. After that year we had stopped going.  
  
Sometimes I wished I could go back to being so careless. I wanted to be able to just let life go by as it may. As I got older, I became more uptight. Why is it that when you get older there is more to worry about? Why couldn't we just hold on to that carefree attitude that came with being a kid?  
  
I used to love decorating with my mother. I wished that I still loved spending so much time with her, but it seemed like every year, my birthday party got bigger. It was like she thought the only way she could keep me under her thumb was to throw me a big party. She wanted me to feel obligated to stay with her forever. What was she so worried about? Where did she think I would go? My mother had so many secrets and I longed to find out what they were.  
  
Too bad I didn't know then that I still had some of that childish naivety that I thought I had lost. Learning my mother's secrets wouldn't help me. It would only make things more complicated. 


	4. Chapter Three

Chapter Three  
  
The party was to start at seven o'clock. My mother and father's friends starting coming at around six thirty and no one I knew showed up until about 7:45. I never understood why people thought being late was better.  
  
At 7:00 Greg and Carly rang the doorbell. I opened it quickly. I had seen them drive up in Greg's old gray pick up truck.  
  
"Hi Carly, Greg," I said smiling. Carly was beaming. She looked so happy to be there with Greg that I stopped being jealous and was just happy for her. I had no right to be jealous anyway. Greg was my cousin.  
  
"Happy Birthday!" Carly said.  
  
They came into the den with me. All my mother's friends were in the fancy living room. I didn't know why they had to invite their friends. The party wasn't for them. I barely even knew the people they invited.  
  
The den was decorated with balloons and streamers. There was a huge banner that stretched across the entire room that read: HAPPY BIRTHDAY HOPE AND GREG!!  
  
"Was that really necessary?" Greg whispered to me, gesturing towards the banner. I just shrugged. My mother was so stubborn. I couldn't have made her take that thing down if my life depended on it.  
  
We sat in the den for what felt like forever waiting for the other guests to show up. The time seemed to pass by in slow motion. All I wanted was for this night to be over.  
  
Finally some other people started arriving, carrying gifts wrapped in bright paper. Greg's and my friends came in first and my boyfriend, Jason Carter handed me a small box wrapped in silver paper. He smiled at me mischievously. I was wearing a black dress that fell above my knees and dipped low in the front. Daddy had almost had a heart attack when he saw me come down the stairs in it. I rarely wore dresses, but tonight was going to be special. I had told Jason that he was going to get a present tonight too.  
  
My parents promised they would be leaving to go into town with their friends at midnight. I could hardly wait until then.  
  
"You look great," Jason said. We had been seeing each other for a while now. About nine months. He had light brown hair and beautiful brown eyes that sparkled when he laughed. I really liked him and I thought I was ready to do what he had been wanted me to do for the last five months.  
  
Only a couple of weeks ago we had been in his car at parked near the lake. His hands were roaming around a little too much and I pushed him away before he could unbutton my shirt.  
  
"Jason, stop," I protested.  
  
He groaned and pulled away from me in frustration. This was pretty much what happened on all our dates lately.  
  
"C'mon Hope, we've been together for a long time," he said, "I want to show you that I love you,"  
  
"You don't have to show me, I believe you when you tell me," I smiled at him, trying to get him to not be mad at me. I really liked him, but I just didn't think I was ready to have sex. He would try again every time we were alone but I wouldn't let him get to the point of no return.  
  
I always remembered that Aunt Erin had had Greg when she was around my age. She had married Uncle Anthony and had never had a job of her own. All she did was stay home and cook and clean for her husband and son. I didn't even know if she had ever been outside of Duncan. Sometimes I would notice her looking at a picture of Europe or even the United States wistfully. I didn't want to end up like that. I wanted to accomplish all my dreams.  
  
"Do I still get a present tonight?" Jason whispered in my ear.  
  
Just then Aunt Erin walked into the room looking sad. She looked around at all the teenagers having fun. She looked like she wanted to be in here with us. Like she wanted to turn back time and have her child hood back.  
  
My smile faltered and I didn't answer him.  
  
He didn't seem to notice. He went over to the food table and got himself some chips.  
  
So, my party went on for hours, with nothing really happening.  
  
I was surprised at eleven o'clock when Jenna Andrews and her clique showed up. She was the "popular" girl at my school. She was beautiful I had to admit and she went out with all the most popular guys. Personally, I thought she was arrogant and annoying.  
  
"Happy birthday Greg!" she called into the den when I answered the door. She ignored me and pushed into the house. All her followers followed her.  
  
"Thanks for coming Jenna!" I called after her. She turned around for a minute and looked confused as if she didn't know who had said that. I rolled my eyes and went back into the den. Jenna had squeezed in on the couch in between Carly and Greg. Carly was scowling angrily. Greg looked uncomfortable. He had never liked Jenna. We made fun of her all time, mocking her high, perky voice.  
  
Jenna's friends, if you could call them anything other than her loyal servants, hovered around her. All the guys looked jealous and all the girls looked bored.  
  
"We're leaving now honey," Mom said, coming up behind me.  
  
When all the adults were gone, Jenna whispered something into one of the guys ears and he went out the front door only to return a minute later with two cases of beer.  
  
"Hey! You can't bring that in here!" I cried, stepping in front of the guy before he could get into the den. He just looked down at me and laughed. Anger bubbled inside me. I didn't like being ignored. And I hated being laughed at.  
  
"Get that out of here!!" I screamed in fury. Everyone stopped what they were doing behind me. The silence was heavy and uncomfortable.  
  
"C'mon Hope, it's just a little," Jason came up beside me and grabbed one of the cases from the guys arms. I stared at him in surprise. He had never done that to me before. He had never disagreed with what I was doing in my own house. It was my party not his.  
  
"Jason, my parents will kill me," I hissed at him.  
  
"Since when do you care what they think?" he asked. He opened the box and took out a can. I grabbed his wrist and stared into his eyes. I silently pleaded with him not to open that can. He popped it open and took a sip without breaking eye contact. I let go of him. Most of the other guests came and grabbed a beer from the case.  
  
Before I knew it, there were five more cases in the den.  
  
"Greg, what am I going to do?" I wailed. He looked nervous too. He hadn't had anything to drink and for that I was grateful. I needed someone who wasn't getting hammered to help me. He had managed to pry Jenna off his arm for five minutes to come and talk to me out in the hall. \  
  
"We'll just have to wait until your parents get home," he said, staring past me into the den. The music had been turned up and now most people had had at least three beers each.  
  
I thought about Tyler who was probably up in his room trying to sleep. I couldn't ask him to come down and stop the madness. No one, not even high school students took him seriously. He always babbled nonsense to himself when he was in town. Everyone thought he was crazy. The only thing I was thankful for right now was that Colin was at a friend's house for the night.  
  
"We have to just ride it out, there is no way the two of us are going to stop this," Greg said. I stood there and watched as Greg went back into the room and picked up a couple beer cans that had been thrown on the floor.  
  
Suddenly I felt a hand on my shoulder. I turned around to find Jason standing there looking more than a little wobbly.  
  
"Hoppppppe, let's go upstairs," he said. He tried to wink but ended up blinking. He stumbled over bump in the carpet.  
  
"No, not after what you did to me in there," I said. I planted my feet firmly on the ground and crossed my arms over my chest.  
  
"I want to give you your present," he said, producing the silver box from his pocket. I stopped for a minute. I didn't have to do anything with him. I could go up and see what he had to say.  
  
"Fine," I followed him up the stairs to my room. I sat down on my bed. I made sure that I was far away from Jason.  
  
I ripped open the paper to find a small, blue velvet box. I opened it. Inside was a pair of diamond earrings. Normally I would be ecstatic to get a gift like this from him but right now I was just angry.  
  
"Thank you," I said halfheartedly.  
  
"Don't you like them?" he asked frowning.  
  
"Yes, they are beautiful, I'm just angry at you," I said. I put the box down on the nightstand and stood up.  
  
"I have to go back down." I said.  
  
"Wait, you didn't give me my present," he said.  
  
"You aren't getting any presents form me tonight Jason," I told him.  
  
"Stop teasing me," he said. He put his arms around my waist from behind and pulled me down onto his lap. He started to kiss my neck.  
  
"Stop it Jason," I warned him. His grip around my waist was like steel. I started to squirm, trying to get out of his grasp. But he was determined to keep me there.  
  
"I love you Hope," he pushed me down onto the bed and he straddled me.  
  
"Jason get off!" I yelled, I was starting to panic now. I kicked my knee up and hit him in the back. I flung my arms around but he was too strong. He grabbed my hands and held them down on the bed. My dress was hiked up to my waist now. He reached down with one hand and tried to pull my panties off.  
  
"Stop it!" I screamed. Tears were coming to my eyes.  
  
"Don't you love me?" he asked. He kissed me roughly on the lips and I felt him unzipping his pants. I groaned into his mouth in terror. This couldn't be happening to me. I couldn't be.  
  
Suddenly a shadow fell onto the bed and a voice said, "Get off her,"  
  
"What the-" Jason turned around. I looked at the figure in the doorway.  
  
It was Tyler and he had a gun. 


	5. Chapter Four

Chapter Four  
  
"I said, get OFF her," Tyler growled. His face was blank, not showing any expression whatsoever. I had never seen him look this way. He usually didn't focus on one thing like this. He always seemed drawn into himself, like he lived in his own little world.  
  
"Hey, man, calm down," Jason said. I could feel him shudder on top of me. He climbed off the bed and away from me. I let out my breath in a long whoosh.  
  
I sat up and yanked down my skirt. I wiped at my eyes. My tears were black from my mascara. I was shivering, just thinking about what had almost happened to me. I couldn't believe that Jason had done that.  
  
"Get out of here, and don't ever come near Hope again," Tyler growled, his eyes narrowing. His hand never wavered, holding that gun. It scared me to think that he had a gun in the house. He wasn't the sort of person I would trust with a gun. But right now I was grateful that he had come when he did.  
  
"Fine," Jason said raising his hands in surrender. He looked back at me and shook his head, "Your whole family is crazy," he said.  
  
There was a thundering bang and Jason was on the floor writhing in pain. Dark red blood flowed out of his shin.  
  
"Tyler!" I screamed in terror. I never thought he would actually shoot Jason.  
  
I looked up at my uncle, he was staring at the blood and smiling a little. He looked up at me and nodded as if to say your welcome. He turned and walked away carrying the gun at his side.  
  
I ran to Jason and put my hand over his wound. I was furious at him, but I wasn't about to let him bleed to death in the middle of my bedroom.  
  
He groaned in pain as I pushed down on the wound to stop the bleeding. I was vaguely aware that there was no longer any music coming from downstairs.  
  
"Hope!" A voice cried in surprise. I looked up to find Greg and Carly standing at the doorway.  
  
"Call the police!" I yelled. Carly hurried away.  
  
"What happened?" Greg asked as he knelt down to roll Jason over into his back.  
  
"Tyler shot him," I said quickly. I knew Greg would want to know the whole story but I just couldn't tell him right now. I wasn't eager to tell him what one of his good friends had almost done.  
  
"This whole family is crazy," Jason moaned in agony. Anger bubbled inside my chest, but I pushed it away before it boiled over. I couldn't let Jason get to me, not now.  
  
"They are on their way," Carly said, running back in. She got a towel from the bathroom and we wrapped it around Jason's leg. It was soaked through by the time the police got there. The doctor in town hurried into the room and took over for us.  
  
I felt tears well up in my eyes as I looked down at my bloody hands and rumpled clothing.  
  
"Who did this?" the police officer asked.  
  
I didn't answer him. I couldn't let him take Tyler away. What would my mother say, if I let her brother go to jail. He would never last in there with real criminals. They would eat him alive.  
  
"Miss, you have to tell me who did this," the officer said again.  
  
I sighed and shook my head.  
  
"It was her uncle, Tyler, he's in the room down there," Greg spoke up. The officer hurried to the room, he didn't knock, he just burst into the room and came out a minute later with Tyler in hand cuffs. He was looking at the ground. He had changed his shirt as I imagine the other one had blood on it.  
  
"Tyler!" I ran over to him. He wouldn't even look at me. I grabbed his arm but the officer pulled him away from me. He was led downstairs, I followed them all the way out the door into the front yard. There were two other police cars with their lights flashed red and blue all over the yard. All the guests from the party were outside behind a barrier of yellow tape and police officers.  
  
"Don't worry Ty, I'll get Mom and Dad and we'll be there right away!" I called to him as he was lowered into the car. He looked out the window with the saddest look on his face as he was driven away. My heart was breaking for him, being taken away like that. I remembered how much he'd always looked for everyone's approval. He knew that Mom wouldn't be happy about this. He looked so ashamed about what he had done. Only I knew that he had saved me from what Jason would have done.  
  
"Hope!" I voice called. It was Jenna Andrews. She was standing in her little group of friends; I noticed a hint of a smug smile on her face. As if she had known all along that my party would be a disaster.  
  
I ignored her and went back inside. The doctor was helping Jason out the door.  
  
"Oh, in case you didn't know Jason, we are over," I called after him. Right now I was feeling very angry at a lot of people. I knew that some of my anger was unreasonable but I couldn't control it.  
  
I saw Greg standing in the den with his arm around Carly. I rolled my eyes at the dopey look on her face. She was so happy to be here with him that she had barely even talked to me through the whole party.  
  
I stalked over to them, "Why did you tell the cops it was Tyler?" I demanded. I fought back the little voice in my head that told me to stop now, before I dug myself into a hole too deep to get out of.  
  
"Because it was," Greg said simply.  
  
"Now he is in jail, you know he won't last an hour there!" I yelled. Tears were welling up in my eyes. I couldn't help seeing my mother's disappointed face flashing before my eyes. What would she say when she found out there had been alcohol? Would she ever trust me again? I was just thankful that Colin hadn't been here, then mom and dad would really be furious.  
  
"Hope, calm down, we had to tell them," Carly insisted. She reached out and touched my arm lightly, reassuringly. I looked into her eyes and I saw the best friend that I had always known. She had never really left. I suddenly felt horrible about ever being jealous of her being happy. I should be happy for her, not be yelling at her.  
  
I swallowed hard and sat down on the couch. I had to brush away beer cans before I sat. The tears flowed down my cheeks freely now.  
  
"I'm sorry guys," I said, wiping my eyes. My tears had now washed all my makeup away.  
  
Carly sat down beside me and took my hand, "What did Jason do?" she asked. She sounded genuinely concerned, "What happened?"  
  
"That's a good question," I heard a voice. Mom was standing in the doorway of the den with her arms crossed over her chest. Her eyebrows furrowed as she looked around the room, eyes falling on each and every beer can.  
  
"Carly, Greg, thank you for coming to the party, but I think you should be getting home now," Mom said, "Erin is outside waiting for you," she said.  
  
Carly hugged me before getting up. She and Greg left the room.  
  
"Honey, what happened?" Mom asked. To my surprise she looked more concerned than angry. Maybe I had underestimated the faith my mother had in me.  
  
"A lot," I said, "But Tyler is in jail, we have to go down there," I told her. I got up quickly. Mom's expression transformed into a look of horror. I had never seen her look so frightened before. Not even when Colin hadn't come home from school on the bus when he was nine.  
  
"What?" she whispered.  
  
"Let's just go," I said. I grabbed her arm and pulled her to the front door. The police were still crawling all over the house, probably collecting evidence. I hoped they wouldn't charge Mom for all the alcohol and underage drinking.  
  
"What happened!?" Dad cried as he came in the door. He looked absolutely furious when he saw the beer cans in the living room.  
  
"Later, Trevor, we have to go to the police station, Tyler has been arrested," Mom said quietly.  
  
My father looked at me a moment and I saw the disappointment in his eyes. No doubt, he thought I had caused my mother this pain. She was so protective of Tyler.  
  
My father and I had never been very close. I knew he loved me, and I loved him, but we just didn't do things together that other father and daughter's did. I always felt like he didn't feel comfortable around me. It was sometimes like he blamed me for everything bad that ever happened to Mom or Colin. Now he was blaming me again.  
  
But maybe it was my fault this time. I shouldn't have led Jason on only to push him away again and again. I should have known this would happen. It was my fault that Tyler was in jail. Sometimes I wondered if I was adopted, I always felt somehow out of place in this family. Like I wasn't fully welcome.  
  
I told my parents why Tyler was in jail on the way to the station. I left out the part about Jason being drunk. They already knew that there was alcohol. Mom listened quietly. I saw her eyes well up with tears. I hated hurting her this way. If Tyler had just left us alone, I could have handled it. Dad's hands gripped the wheel tighter and tighter as we got closer to the station.  
  
He slammed the door closed leaving Mom and I in the car at the station.  
  
"I'm sorry Mom," I whispered.  
  
"Hope," she said turning around quickly, "It is not your fault, you father is just angry at Jason, he doesn't blame you for any of this and neither do I, I love you and I'm so grateful that you are okay,"  
  
Mom and I got out of the car and she hugged me tightly. She kept her arm around my waist as we went into the station.  
  
Dad was already talking to Tyler in the one conference room. We went inside. Tyler was sitting opposite Dad at the wooden table. His hands were folded on the tabletop and he had a blank look on his face. I wondered if he knew what he had done.  
  
"Oh Tyler," Mom cried. She ran over and hugged him tightly. She was crying freely now.  
  
"It will be okay, I helped her," Tyler said, patting Mom on the shoulder.  
  
A policeman came into the room and sat down in a chair at the side of the room. I saw his badge read Officer Bricklin.  
  
"What is going to happen to my brother Officer?" Mom asked. Her eyebrows were furrowed and she looked very tense.  
  
"Well, it all depends on whether Jason Carter's family decides to press charges or not, he could go tot jail for assault with a deadly weapon or even attempted murder," he said calmly.  
  
"Attempted murder!" Mom cried.  
  
"It is unlikely Skye," Trevor piped up.  
  
"It is possible," Bricklin said.  
  
We bailed Tyler out and went home with him. He sat silently beside me in the back seat. Mom and Dad didn't say anything for the whole ride. All we could do was wait now until the Carter's decided what to do. Waiting made me nervous. I couldn't imagine having a trial. I would never be able to forgive myself if Tyler went to jail.  
  
At home Tyler went straight to his room. The cops were all gone.  
  
I followed Mom and Dad into the den to help clean up. We picked up cans for a few minutes in silence. Somehow I knew what Dad said was coming.  
  
"How could you do this Hope?" he asked dropping his garbage bag, "I thought you were more responsible than this,"  
  
"I'm sorry Dad, I tried to stop them from bringing in the beer but they-" I was interrupted. "I don't want to hear it," he said shaking his head.  
  
"I'm trying to explain, you're my father! Don't you care what almost happened to me?" I cried. Tears were welling up in my eyes again, just when I thought I was all cried out. I sat down and put my head in my hands.  
  
What my father said next would have knocked me right over if I hadn't already been sitting down.  
  
"I'm not your father," he said, "you mother has some things she has to tell you," he stalked out of the room and the front door slammed shut. 


	6. Chapter Five

Chapter Five  
  
I don't remember my mother actually telling me the story. I just somehow know it. She sat down across from me. Her eyes were blood shot and red. It looked like she was grinding her teeth, something she did often when she was angry with someone.  
  
She told me my father was a man named Derek Brooks. I had never heard this name before. It was like she was just making this up. How could she not have told me that Trevor wasn't my father?  
  
I stared straight at the floor through her whole explanation. She was trying to make it seem all right. She was trying to defend keeping such a secret from me.  
  
"How could you not tell me?" I asked when she had stopped babbling about how hard she had had it.  
  
"I was going to tell you.I was," she said.  
  
I looked up at her, "No, you weren't!" I yelled.  
  
She jumped back in surprise. She hadn't expected me to be so angry about this I assumed. Did she think I would be happy that most of my family had been keeping such an important secret from me all my life? Everyone must know except Greg and Colin.  
  
"Colin is only my half brother?" I asked, lowering my voice again.  
  
She nodded, "Anthony and Erin aren't your Aunt and Uncle, Greg is not your cousin," she said sadly. She didn't seem sad for me, she was sad that she had to let her big secret out. She didn't want her perfect little family to be ruined.  
  
"I can't believe this," I said, standing up.  
  
"Hope, where are you going?" Mom asked, she stood up and came closer to me.  
  
"I need to. go somewhere," I told her. I turned around quickly and went out the den door.  
  
"No Hope! Please, we have to talk about this," Mom cried after me. She ran after me and grabbed my arm. She tried to pull me into a hug but I pulled away from her.  
  
"Where is my father?" I asked as I grabbed my coat.  
  
"Derek is dead," Mom said. Tears spilled over her eyelids and ran down her cheeks like tiny little rivers. But I didn't care how my mother felt right now.  
  
I paused for a minute, taking in the fact that the father I had never known was dead. I would never know him. I never knew how those people felt, who had lost a family member. Now I had suddenly gained and lost a father in less than an hour. No one could know how I felt right now.  
  
I pulled open the door and a cool breeze blew in, causing my dark hair to blow over my face. I brushed it away and looked back at my mother. She was standing in the foyer, arms crossed over her chest. She was crying.  
  
"Hope wait," she said. She disappeared into the living room. I was about to leave when she came back out carrying a photo album. She handed it to me.  
  
"Just look at this, please don't go far," she looked into my eyes. She looked devastated. I knew then that I could never intentionally hurt her. She was so fragile.  
  
I took the album and walked away from the light that poured out into the front yard. I hurried down the embankment that led to the river. I looked back at the house once. I thought I saw a face looking down from Tyler's darkened room but when I looked again, the window was empty. I felt around on the dock for the rope that tied the motorboat to the shore. I found it quickly and after getting in the boat I untied it.  
  
I was out in the middle of the lake in no time. I steered the boat in the direction of the little cave. I stopped for a minute when I saw a light coming from the cave. I turned off the motor and rowed up on to the tiny shore. I grabbed the photo album and went to the opening of the cave quietly.  
  
Who could be in there? Had someone else discovered my hideout?  
  
"Hope, I can see you," Greg's voice came from behind me.  
  
I turned around quickly, my heart thumping.  
  
"Don't do that to me," I told him. I tried to smile but I just couldn't force one out, "What are you doing here?" I asked. I went inside the cave. Greg had lit the four little gas lamps. We had found them in the basement in one of my mother's boxes one day when we were younger and decided that they would be perfect for our cave.  
  
I sat down on the blanket that we kept inside the cave. Greg had a bag of Oreo's opened in the ground. Greg was addicted to Oreo's; he never came here without a bag of them and rarely left here with any left.  
  
He sat down beside me and grabbed a cookie, he offered me the bag but I shook my head. I had lost my appetite after everything that had happened today. I knew this party had been a bad idea from the start, and now I was sitting in a cave with my cousin who now wasn't my cousin, because of the party. I knew that if the party had never happened that Tyler wouldn't have shot Jason and I never would have found out the truth. But was that what I wanted? Yes, I thought defiantly, I wish I could go back to having a happy family.  
  
A lot of my friends were jealous that my family was so happy and normal. A lot of them had divorced parents or they had never known one of their parents. Now I knew what it felt like to not know a parent and never be able to know him.  
  
"I knew you were going to be here, so I came first," Greg told me, "Are you okay?" he looked at me closely. I stared back into his beautiful blue eyes. I was so thankful to have someone like him to talk to. I don't know what I would do if he hadn't come tonight.  
  
"Not really, I just found out that Trevor isn't my father," I told him quietly. As happy I was that he was there, I wasn't proud of what had happened tonight.  
  
His eyes widened in surprise. I wondered if the fact that we weren't really cousins had occurred to him like it had occurred to me.  
  
"Who is?" he asked.  
  
"I don't know him, and I never will, he's dead," I said. Just then I remembered the photo album. I picked it up from the blanket and set it on my lap. The cover was brown leather and it looked like it had been very expensive once, now it just looked all worn out.  
  
I opened the album to find pictures of a baby. I assumed it was a boy because he was wearing a blue jumper. His hair was so blond, you could hardly tell he had any. I couldn't see anything but the arms of the person who was holding him.  
  
"This is my father," I realized. On the inside cover it read: DEREK COLIN BROOKS.  
  
I turned the pages and watched as my father grew up. There were pictures of him when he first started walking, a birthday where he had cake all over his face, his first day of school, sitting on Santa's lap at the mall, opening presents on Christmas Day, and finally his graduation.  
  
This picture showed him smiling very widely. His hair was still blond and as I looked closer I saw he had hazel eyes. That's where I had gotten them. He had his arm around a girl with long dark hair. She was looking up at him with the biggest smile on her face. It was my mother.  
  
Tears came to my eyes again. They looked so in love in the few pictures with them together. They were always touching eachother in some way and they would be looking at eachother, seemingly oblivious to anyone else in the entire world. The very last picture in the book was one of my father holding me. He was gazing down at me with so much love in his eyes. I had never seen Trevor look at me that way.  
  
Greg came over and sat down beside me. He put his arm around my shoulders and pulled me into him. I wiped away a tear that had fallen from my eyes.  
  
"Oh Greg, I wish I could meet him," I said, my voice breaking.  
  
"I know, but at least you have this photo album," he said. He sounded so concerned about me. I really didn't know what I would do without him. No one else seemed to care about me anymore.  
  
"Do you realize we aren't really cousins?" I asked. I didn't look at up at him, for fear of what he would do. I didn't know how he felt about me, but pretty much the only good thing about this night was finding out Greg wasn't my cousin.  
  
"Yes," he hugged me tighter.  
  
"There is so much that my mother kept from me," I said.  
  
"There are a lot of things about our family that neither of us know," Greg said. He had abandoned a half eaten Oreo cookie on the blanket. I knew that he wasn't himself; he never left an Oreo half eaten.  
  
"What should we do?" I asked. I don't know why I asked. I wasn't expecting to do anything about what had happened tonight. I thought life would have to go on as normal. But now that I thought about it, I didn't think life COULD go on as normal. Colin was only my half brother, would Mom tell him the truth? Would Trevor ever talk to me again?  
  
"I have an idea," Greg said, surprising me. What idea could he possibly have?  
  
"You do?" I asked, turning around to face him.  
  
He nodded sitting up, he had an excited look on his face, "We have to go see someone," he said. I stood up quickly and started to pace across the cave. He always paced when he was thinking.  
  
"Who?" I asked, confused.  
  
"Fred Jamieson," he answered.  
  
"Who is that?" I asked. He wasn't making any sense.  
  
"Our grandfather," he said, "I heard my parents talking earlier. My mom got a letter from him, she was kind of upset about it. I brought the letter. I wanted to show you a long time ago but I didn't know if I should,"  
  
"I don't understand what he has to do with us," I said, but I took the letter that Greg was holding out to me.  
  
"Just read it," he said. He grabbed another cookie and popped it in his mouth. I looked at him for a minute and then opened the envelope.  
  
The letter was on white lined paper. He had written it with pencil, which I found odd; I had never seen an adult write any kind of letter in pencil before. His writing was kind of messy. I looked up at Greg again; he raised his eyebrows and gestured to the letter. I leaned back against the cave wall and began to read:  
  
Dear Erin, I don't know if you will even read this letter, but I had to write to you. I have been writing to Skye for a while now and even Tyler has written once in awhile. You are the only one who won't speak to me at all. I have missed you for a long time now. I know I did a lot of things that hurt you but I have changed now, and I would really like to be a part of your life. Skye has been telling me about your son. I'd really like to meet him. How is Anthony doing? I live in London, I work as a janitor of a local high school. I enjoy my work. I have stopped drinking and I am doing so much better. How is your life going? I hope you are happy. I know everything that happened so long ago with Hannah. I'm so sorry that Skye had to go through that, and how awful for her husband to die. But she is happy now. And I hope that you are too. I would really like to hear from you. Please write back. Love, Fred.  
  
I looked up at Greg and he smiled.  
  
"Who is Hannah?" I asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, but I think she is Skye's mother," he said, "I heard my parents talking and they said a lot about Hannah and how they couldn't believe what she did,"  
  
"All of this is so confusing," I sighed. I still didn't know what Greg expected us to do about any of this.  
  
"We have to go to London and see Fred," Greg said.  
  
"What?" I asked.  
  
"He'll tell us the truth, there is no point in asking your mother about your father and Hannah, she'll lie-"  
  
"You don't know that," I protested.  
  
"She's been lying to you all your life," Greg reminded me.  
  
I didn't say anything.  
  
"We have to do it Hope," Greg said. He looked so determined to see Fred Jamieson. Well I wasn't about to let him drive across the province on his own.  
  
"Okay, let's go visit Fred Jamieson," I agreed. 


	7. Chapter Six

Chapter Six  
  
When I got back to the house, everything was dark. Mom must have gone to bed, I thought. Trevor's car still wasn't in the driveway when I returned. I was thankful for that. I didn't want to run into him again tonight.  
  
Greg and I had talked awhile longer at the cave and we came to a decision. Greg told me we had to leave tonight before we changed our minds or our parents tried to lie to us again. I never knew how little faith he had in his parents. He had sounded so bitter when he talked about them tonight. I wondered if there was something he wasn't telling me.  
  
I went up to my room and took out my two duffle bags as quietly as I could. Greg and I were going to leave Duncan tonight in his pickup truck. We were going to drive straight through to London. I had to admit I was nervous about meeting Fred Jamieson.  
  
I stuffed a few pairs of jeans and one skirt in one bag along with my toothbrush, hairbrush and other toiletries. In the other bag I put three sweatshirts, two T-shirts and a couple sweaters. I didn't know how long we would be gone; I wanted to make sure I would have everything I needed. I opened the drawer to my bedside table and pushed the back out of it. I had actually made the little cubby back there because Colin would always sneak up here and take my money. I had even caught Tyler looking around for some change once. Sometimes I felt like I no privacy whatsoever in this house. I was about to walk out the door when I caught a glimpse of my father's leather photo album sitting on the dresser. As an after thought I grabbed it and put in my bag.  
  
I walked down stairs as slowly as I could so the steps wouldn't creak too loudly. I started to move past the den but I caught a glimpse of someone sitting on one of the couches. I froze and looked slowly into the room. I let my breath out a little when I saw it was Tyler. I was about to keep moving to the front door when he called out my name. My heart was pounding against my chest as I turned around to look at him.  
  
"Yes?" I managed to choke out. I hoped he couldn't tell how nervous I was.  
  
"I'm sorry about what I did," he said. He was just sitting there staring straight ahead at nothing. All the lights were off. There were still beer cans all over the floor but it looked better than it had.  
  
"Tyler, you don't have to apologize, I'm glad you came in when you did, it could have been bad," I told him.  
  
"I shouldn't have shot your boyfriend," he said.  
  
"No I guess you shouldn't have, but it will be okay," I said, "Thank you for helping me," I didn't know if I should keep going towards the door. I couldn't tell if he knew I was leaving or not.  
  
I started to move again. I figured I had to go now or I wouldn't have a chance again.  
  
"I'll miss you," Tyler called out. My heart stopped for a millisecond before I called back to him, "I'll miss you too," and I opened the door and left Tyler alone in the house.  
  
I hurried to the end of the driveway where Greg said he would be waiting for me. I saw a pair of headlights coming towards me. They blinded me for a minute but then my eyes adjusted to the light and I saw it wasn't Greg's pickup truck; it was Trevor's car. I threw myself to the ground at the side of the driveway. I managed to crawl behind the trees and I watched Trevor's car pass by and slowly stop in front of the house. He stumbled out of the car and went up to the front door. He looked almost drunk. I just prayed that Tyler didn't tell him I had left. They couldn't know where I was going. I stood up and hurried to the end of the driveway. Greg pulled up a second later. He got out and grabbed my bags.  
  
"I almost got caught twice," I told him after we were driving and safely away from my house. I didn't tell him that Tyler knew I was leaving, I didn't know if he would be angry.  
  
"All that matters is that we both got away," he said. He was staring intently at the road ahead.  
  
We drove for a long time. Along country roads and through small towns. We didn't talk much; we already both knew what we were going to do. We were going to get to London and get a hotel room right away. Then we would go to Fred's house the next day and speak with him about all our questions. The only thing Greg and I hadn't discussed was what we gong to do once we knew the truth about everything. Would we go back to Duncan and face our parents? Or would we stay in London with Fred?  
  
I was nervous about what we were doing. I didn't know if this would help anything. I was started to have second thoughts when Greg put his hand over mine.  
  
"It's going to be okay Hope, I know it will," he said.  
  
He was smiling faintly.  
  
I trusted Greg. He was the only person in my life that I trusted fully. I knew he would do whatever he could for me and protect me at all costs. I knew I was safe with him. I fell asleep against the car door still holding Greg's hand.  
  
When I woke up it was starting to get light again. We were coming into a town that seemed to be a little bit bigger than Duncan. I looked over at Greg. He looked less awake and intense.  
  
"Good morning," I said to him. His hand was still on mine. It had been there all night.  
  
"Hey," he said, he looked over and smiled at me quickly.  
  
"Do you want me to drive?" I asked.  
  
"No, no, I'm okay," he said. But his eyes were drooping and he was slouching down close to the steering wheel.  
  
"Greg, you're tired, let me drive," I insisted.  
  
He just shook his head, "I didn't want to admit this but we are going to have to get a hotel, we can't drive all the way to London in one trip," he said.  
  
"Okay, that's fine," I said. I didn't tell Greg this, but I was actually happy to stop for a while. I wanted some tome to think about what I was going to say to Fred.  
  
We pulled into the parking lot of a hotel called: LIGHTHOUSE INN. It seemed nice enough. I waited in the car while Greg went into the office to get us a room.  
  
He came back with one key. I was surprised he hadn't got us separate rooms.  
  
"I thought we could save money by getting one room, there are two beds," he explained. I just nodded.  
  
We each took a bag into the room and Greg collapsed on one of the double beds. He was snoring in seconds. I sighed and tried to turn on the tiny television. But the only channel it has was channel ten and the show was Touched By an Angel.  
  
I got up and went into the bathroom. I took a quick shower, trying to be as quiet as possible. But when I went back into the room and dropped my toothbrush on the uncarpeted floor Greg didn't even stir. He was out cold.  
  
I didn't know what to do after I was all dressed and ready. I had nowhere to go. I knew I wouldn't be able to go back to sleep since I had slept in the car.  
  
I pictured my mother waking up this morning and going into my room. She would find in empty, the bed un slept in. She would be hysterical with worry. I felt a pang of guilt as I pictured her rowing the boat out to the cave to see if I had spent the night there. She would call Carly and Erin but they wouldn't know where I was. And they would know Greg and I had left together when they found Greg's bed empty and his clothes gone. What would they do? Would they call the police?  
  
I grabbed my purse and went out side. It was a nice sunny day. A lot warmer than the day before had been. I had seen a pay phone outside the office when we had first arrived.  
  
I knew at the back of my mind that Greg would be furious if he found out I was calling home. But I couldn't do this to my mother; I had to tell her I was all right.  
  
It's just a quick call, I told myself, I won't tell her where we are going.  
  
I put in a couple quarters and dialed my number. My mother picked up after half a ring.  
  
"Hello?" she sounded desperate.  
  
"Mom," I said.  
  
"Hope! Where are you? I thought something happened to you. Erin is beside herself with worry over Greg. When I found you bed empty I almost had a heart attack. How could you do this to me?" she raged.  
  
"You? How could I do this to you?" I said, trying to stay calm, "Don't you care how I feel right now? I called you to let you know we are both okay, I didn't want you to worry,"  
  
"Well I am worried, I need you to come home so we can talk," Mom said, she sounded angry now.  
  
"I'm not coming home, tell Colin and Tyler I miss them and tell Trevor not to miss me too much," I heard her gasp in surprise at me calling Trevor by his first name before I slammed the phone down.  
  
I regretted calling her now. I should have listened to my head and not my heart. I had to learn to control my instincts. I couldn't let Greg know I had called.  
  
I spotted a Tim Horton's across the street and I crossed quickly. I could really use a coffee and my stomach was rumbling with hunger.  
  
As I sat at a table with my coffee and muffin I couldn't help wondering if we were really doing the right thing.  
  
"I guess we'll find out when we finally see Fred Jamieson," I said to myself. But would he really have all the answers we were hoping for? 


	8. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven  
  
I sat in Tim Horton's for a while longer. I didn't really have anything else to do. I knew Greg would still be sleeping and there wasn't anywhere else to go in this town.  
  
"Hey, why do you look so sad?" A voice said suddenly. I jumped, almost knocking over the little bit of coffee left in my second cup.  
  
I looked up at the person and was surprised to find a very good-looking guy. He had dark brown eyes that seemed to sparkle. His hair was light brown. He had a dimple in his right cheek when he smiled. He was tall and lean.  
  
"Oh, nothing-I mean, I'm not sad," I managed to stutter.  
  
"Mind if I sit down?" he asked. He didn't wait for me to answer, before sliding into the chair across from me. He folded his hands around his coffee and stared at me. I was surprised at how direct he was. He didn't seem to worry about what I might think of him, he did what he wanted. I liked him already.  
  
"I'm Ryan," he said.  
  
"Hope," I said.  
  
"I haven't seen you around here, are you visiting family?" Ryan asked.  
  
"No, I'm traveling with my.cousin Greg, we are just stopped here for awhile," I told him. I didn't know why I called Greg my cousin. I knew he wasn't blood related to me in any way. Maybe it was just habit.  
  
"Where are you headed?" Ryan asked.  
  
"You sure ask a lot of questions," I said, smiling. I didn't know whether I should tell this guy anything. I didn't think he would call up my mother and tell her where I was, but I just wasn't sure if it was a good idea to tell a stranger my travel plan.  
  
"I'm sorry, I'm just curious, I tend to talk a lot when I'm attracted to someone," he said. He was looking straight at me; he never broke his gaze.  
  
I felt myself blush, "Well, you don't waste any time getting to the point do you," I said.  
  
"What can I say?" he said smiling. He shrugged his shoulders.  
  
I glanced out the window and saw Greg some out of the hotel room across the street. He seemed to be looking around for something. Probably me, I thought.  
  
"I have to go," I said, standing up and putting on my jacket.  
  
"I guess my approach didn't exactly make you like me too much," Ryan said.  
  
"Maybe I'll see you around," I said. I smiled at him before I left the Tim Horton's. I waved at Greg from the stoplight and he waved back quickly. He went back into the room before I could get to him.  
  
"Where were you?" he asked.  
  
"I just went over to Tim Horton's," I told him. I decided not to tell him about Ryan. It wouldn't matter if he knew about him or not.  
  
"Maybe we should get going," he said, yawning.  
  
"No, lets stay the night, you are obviously still tired and we already paid for the room," I said. I secretly hoped that I would see Ryan again.  
  
Greg shrugged and lay down on the bed, "How's the cable here?" he asked.  
  
"Non existent," I said, "There's only channel ten,"  
  
"I'm starving, want to go to a restaurant?" he asked.  
  
"Okay," I said, "I saw one down the street, it seems kind of fancy though," I said. Greg knew I liked to dress up sometimes and go to nice restaurants. I always used to beg Jason to take me to the city for a nice dinner, but he always refused. He would want to go and park somewhere and make out instead. When I thought about it now, I couldn't understand what I ever saw in him.  
  
"Hope, I know you want to go there, but we have to save our money," Greg said. He actually looked sorry that we couldn't go to the restaurant. That was more than I ever got from Jason.  
  
We ended up getting in the truck and stopping at the first McDonald's where we could get a chicken burger for a dollar.  
  
"What are you looking for?" Greg asked.  
  
I turned back to him. I hadn't realized that I had been looking out the window for so long. It was starting to get dark. We had been in McDonald's for a while now.  
  
"Nothing," I said.  
  
"You don't want to go back home do you?" he asked.  
  
"No!" I cried. That was the last thing I wanted to do. After with my talk with my mother that morning, I didn't know if I would ever want to go back home.  
  
"Hey! Hope!" I head a voice shout. I turned around abruptly. Who could be calling to me? I wondered. Then I saw Ryan walking over to our table. He had a huge smile on his face that showed off his dimple. He pulled a chair up to our table and smiled at me. It was like he didn't even see Greg sitting there. Greg raised his eyebrows in question at me.  
  
"Ryan, this is Greg, my uh.cousin," I said. I didn't look at Greg to see his reaction to me called him my cousin. I didn't want to see how he felt.  
  
"Hey, I'm Ryan Grove," Ryan said. He smiled at Greg warmly. He didn't notice Greg's sour expression. "Greg Cartwright," he said. He didn't smile. He looked into my eyes for a second and then he looked back at his French fries.  
  
"When are you guys leaving?" Ryan asked, ignoring Greg's obvious discomfort.  
  
"Tomorrow morning," I said.  
  
"Are you headed anywhere near London?" he asked. Greg's head shot up and he stared at me with such intensity that I thought his head was going to explode.  
  
"Well.yes, we are going to London," I said, tearing my eyes away from Greg. I trusted Ryan. I wasn't going to let Greg make me lie to one of the few people that was being nice to me for me instead of wanting to get close to him or my families money.  
  
"Really?" Ryan asked, he raised his eyebrows, "Do you think maybe I could ride with you?"  
  
His question took me by surprise. I wasn't expecting him to want to come with us to London. I glanced at Greg, he wasn't looking at me anymore, he was glaring at Ryan.  
  
"Can I talk to you a minute Hope?" Greg asked, shifting his gaze.  
  
"Sure, we'll be right back," I told Ryan. Greg pulled me over to another table near the ketchup dispenser. We were out of Ryan's view.  
  
"Who is this guy?" Ryan asked.  
  
"I met him at Tim Horton's, he seems nice," I said slowly.  
  
"He could be some kind of axe murderer!" Greg exclaimed, trying to be quiet.  
  
"You are overreacting," I said rolling my eyes.  
  
"How do you know? You just met this guy!" he said.  
  
"Give him a chance okay? Don't be so judgmental all the time," I said. Anger was rising in my chest. I hated it when Greg got like this. He was a modest guy but he knew it when girls liked him. He tended to get possessive when he was dating someone; he thought they shouldn't even look at anyone else if he was around. He was like this now and we weren't even dating! He had always been protective of me. If he had caught Jason in my room with me during the party, he wouldn't have hesitated to shoot him in the chest. At least Tyler had used a little control.  
  
"He can help us with money," I said, trying to plead Ryan's case.  
  
Greg sat back and crossed his arms over his chest; he looked like a little kid how he was pouting.  
  
"Fine," he got up and walked out of the restaurant. I sighed and stood up to tell Ryan he could come with us.  
  
"Great! I'll bring money to help with gas and food," he said.  
  
"Why are you going to London?" I asked.  
  
"I'm going to find my Dad," he said. He got a faraway look in his eyes when he said that.  
  
"Oh, well maybe the person we are going to visit will know him," I offered, "What is his name?"  
  
"Fred Jamieson," he said.  
  
***A/N: I know it is a little confusing about all the last names. It really does make sense though, let me explain: Maxine was married to Michael Jamieson who was Zack(Skye's Dad) and Fred's father. Gregory's(Senior) last name is Cartwright which makes Anthony and Trevor's last names Cartwright which makes Greg(Jr.) last name Cartwright. Skye's last name WAS Jamieson because her father is Zack Jamieson. But she married Derek which made it Brooks, now she is married to Trevor which makes her last name Cartwright and Hope's last name is Cartwright because she though her father was Trevor. I know it's a little confusing, but there's the explanation if you needed it.*** 


	9. Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight  
  
I stared at Ryan in disbelief.  
  
"What's wrong? Hope?" Ryan asked. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern.  
  
"You father is Fred Jamieson?" I asked slowly. It couldn't be true; he had to be talking about a different person. He must have gotten the name wrong or something.  
  
"Yes, do you know him?" he asked.  
  
"You could say that," I said. I stood up and went to the door. The rush of cool air that hit me when I stepped out of the restaurant snapped me out of my daze. Ryan's father was my mother's uncle? Did that make us cousins?  
  
"Hope! What's wrong?" Ryan called out. I was already walking quickly towards the hotel. I had to talk to Greg right away. He would know what to do.  
  
There's nothing you can do, I thought in dismay. If Ryan is telling the truth then that makes the two of you cousins. I suddenly realized that I had a small crush on Ryan forming. Now that crush had been shattered into a million pieces.  
  
"Hope!" Ryan said. He was right beside me now. Almost running to keep up with my brisk walk.  
  
I stopped abruptly. I didn't even notice it was the middle of the road I was standing in. A car honked loudly and someone yelled out their window when they had to swerve around us. Another car screeched to a stop and the driver honked loudly.  
  
"C'mon we have to get out of the way," Ryan said. He grabbed my arm and pulled me out of the road.  
  
"Watch where you are going you lunatics!" someone yelled from their car.  
  
"Get lost!" Ryan yelled. The car drove away.  
  
"Fred Jamieson is who Greg and I are going to visit, he is supposedly my great uncle," I told Ryan. His confused expression didn't change.  
  
"Supposedly?" he asked.  
  
"It's a long story," I said. I started to walk again towards the hotel room. I hoped that Greg was in the room and not somewhere else sulking.  
  
"I have time," Ryan said catching up to walk beside me.  
  
"Well, I don't," I told him. I was going to get Greg and we were going to leave tonight. I was disappointed that Ryan and I were related. I just wanted to get out of this town and get some answers from Fred. All I wanted right now were answers.  
  
Finally I made it to the room and pushed opened the door. Greg was lying on his bed watching Touched By An Angel. He scowled at me when he saw Ryan come into the room behind me. I stared at him for a minute.  
  
"What?" he asked.  
  
"Ryan says Fred is his father," I said. Greg's eyebrows rose in surprise.  
  
"How?" he managed to choke out.  
  
"What do you mean how?" Ryan asked, "Didn't you ever take sex ed?"  
  
I shot him a don't-push-your-luck look and turned back to Greg.  
  
"Well I don't think this changes anything Hope, do you?" Greg asked. He looked at me questioningly. I was silent for a minute.  
  
"No," I answered. I didn't want to tell Greg that I had been starting to like Ryan. I didn't want to hurt Greg in any way. I knew that Greg loved me, I just didn't know in what ways.  
  
"Okay, see you tomorrow morning at eight Ryan," Greg turned the volume on the television back up and leaned back on the headboard.  
  
"I'll talk to you tomorrow Hope," Ryan said. He squeezed my arm reassuringly and left the room, closing the door behind him.  
  
I got dressed for bed and got under the covers. I didn't need to pack my clothes because I hadn't unpacked them for the one night we were going to be here. I tried to watch the repeating episodes of Touched By An Angel but my mind kept wandering to Ryan. I guess I should have been grateful that we hadn't become more than friends before finding out that we were related. And looking on the bright side, I still had Greg.  
  
I woke up the next morning to the sounds of Greg in the shower. I got up quickly and got dressed. I was nervous about what the day would bring. We were going to London today to meet my great uncle and Ryan's father. But Fred Jamieson wasn't what I was worried about right now. I wanted to know how Greg really felt about Ryan coming with us. He had seemed okay about it last night but he was known to hold in his feelings and not tell anyone what he was really thinking.  
  
"Good morning," Greg said when he came out of the bathroom. He looked a lot happier now then he had last night. Maybe the good night's sleep had put him in a better mood. I was grateful for that, because I just wasn't in the mood for his whining all day.  
  
"I guess Ryan'll be here soon," he said. He didn't have a sour look on his face when he said Ryan's name. He seemed fine that he would be coming with us.  
  
"Yep," I answered. There was a knock at the door.  
  
Greg answered it to find Ryan standing there with a duffle bag in his hand.  
  
"Good morning," Greg said. Ryan smiled. He looked over Greg's shoulder and grinned at me. "Hey Hope," he said.  
  
Greg's smile got a little tighter but he didn't storm away or say anything nasty, which is what he normally would have done.  
  
I smiled at him and grabbed by bag, "Lets get out of here," I said. I was eager to get on the road and put this town behind me.  
  
We all squished into the front seat of the pickup truck, with me in the middle. It was a little tight for space but it wasn't too bad. For the first fifteen minutes on the road, no one spoke. The air was heavy and stifling. After awhile it almost felt like I was suffocating.  
  
"So, Ryan.. what's is your mother's name?" I asked.  
  
"Lola," he answered, "What's your mother's name?" he asked. I stared at him a minute trying to tell if he was mocking me, he seemed to really want to know her name though.  
  
"Skye," I said.  
  
We stopped talking again and I didn't make another effort at conversation. I just wanted to get to London. We stopped a couple times for food and gas but finally we saw the sign: WELCOME TO LONDON.  
  
"Are we going straight there?" I asked.  
  
"Might as well," Greg answered. My heart jumped into my throat at the thought of meeting Fred. This was going to be so strange. I didn't know what to expect as we pulled into his driveway. The house was very small with a tiny square yard in front of the house. There was a two-step porch and the screen door had a huge tear in it. The front door was bright blue with a white trim. It looked like it had just been painted. There were blue shutters that matched the door and white siding. The front lawn looked well cared for.  
  
"Here we go," Ryan said. We all got out of the truck and went up to ring the doorbell. No one answered so Greg knocked hard. Suddenly the door was yanked open and a very old looking man stood behind the screen looking out at us. He had a lot of wrinkles and his hair was totally gray. He stood a little stooped over but he smiled when he saw us.  
  
"May I help you?" he asked.  
  
"Hello, Fred Jamieson?" I asked.  
  
He nodded.  
  
"I'm Hope Cartwright, my mother is Skye." I said.  
  
Fred stared out at us for a minute before opening the door and stepping aside to let us come in. We went inside and following Fred into a tiny living room with an old looking couch and huge overstuffed chair that seemed to take up the whole room. Greg, Ryan and I all crowded on to the couch while Fred sat on the chair.  
  
"Does your mother know you are here?" Fred asked.  
  
I shook my head, "No, it's a long story," I told him.  
  
"You know your real father is Derek," she said. I sat there shocked that he knew the truth. Maybe my mother had told him more in her letters than I thought.  
  
".Yes," I said.  
  
"I knew it would come out eventually but she is so stubborn, she wouldn't tell you," he said, leaning back in the chair.  
  
"Fred, I want you to meet Greg Cartwright, my cousin and Ryan Munro," I said.  
  
"Yes, I've heard all about you Greg, it's nice to finally meet you," Fred said. He had a glitter in his eyes that made me believe that he was truly happy to see us. He must have been so lonely here all by himself only getting letters from my mother once in awhile. He didn't seem to recognize Ryan at all.  
  
"Mr. Jamieson, did you know Lola Munro?" Ryan asked finally.  
  
"Yes, I did," he said. He looked closer at Ryan but still didn't seem to recognize anything about him.  
  
"I am her son," Ryan said.  
  
"Is that so? How is she?" he asked.  
  
"Dead," Ryan answered. I looked over at him. He hadn't told me his mother was dead. He had a blank look on his face. He was waiting to see if Fred would clue in to what he was trying to tell him.  
  
"Oh, that's too bad, she was a nice woman," Fred said. He didn't understand what Ryan was getting at.  
  
"She told me you are my father," Ryan finally just said it.  
  
Fred stared at him blankly. Then he shook his head sadly, "I'm so sorry, but that isn't true," he said.  
  
I felt Ryan stiffen beside me.  
  
"I can't have children, you can't be my son, I am sterile," Fred explained. He had a sad look on his face. Maybe he wished that Ryan really were his son, that he had some family that could keep him company.  
  
"But.But, why would my mother lie to me?" Ryan asked out loud. His voice cracked.  
  
No one said anything. Ryan took a deep breath and I felt so sorry for him at that moment. His mother was dead and he didn't know who his father was. I put my arm around him and squeezed him tightly. I didn't want Ryan to be hurt. I could see tears in his dark brown eyes. I glanced over at Greg and saw he had a hard, angry look on his face.  
  
"I'm so sorry," Fred said again.  
  
"Fred, do you mind if we stay here a few days, we would like to talk to you about some things," Greg said. He was ignoring that fact that Ryan had just found out a very devastating thing. Fred looked back at Greg, "Certainly, I would love to have guests, I don't get them very often," he said. You can stay in the extra room and here on the pull out couch, on one condition,"  
  
"What's that?" Greg asked.  
  
"You call your parents and tell them your are here," he said.  
  
I looked at Greg. I could tell he wasn't happy with that, but what choice did we have?  
  
"Okay," Greg said. 


	10. Chapter Nine

Chapter Nine  
  
I had no choice but to call my mother again. After the last call I wasn't too excited about it. I did want to know what was happening to Tyler though. I hoped he wouldn't have to go to jail. I would feel is though it was all my fault if anything happened to him.  
  
"Hello?" Mom answered. She had a tired sound in her voice.  
  
"Mom," I said.  
  
"Hope! Where are you!" she cried.  
  
"Well, I'm at Fred Jamieson's," I answered.  
  
She was silent for a minute before yelling, "WHAT? I'm coming to get you right now,"  
  
"NO!" I cried, "No, Mom, I'm fine, we are going to stay for a few days, he said it was okay," I told her.  
  
"Hope, I need you to come home, Tyler's trial is next week, we all need you here," she said.  
  
"Trevor doesn't want me there," I said.  
  
She didn't say anything for a minute. I knew she was shocked that I was calling the man I had thought was my father for the last fifteen years by his first name. She probably thought nothing would change. Maybe nothing would have changed if we had talked about it, if I had known the truth because she wanted to tell me and not because she had to tell me.  
  
"We will be back by then, I promise, I want to help Tyler," I said.  
  
"Hope.I'm so sorry I didn't tell you the truth before, I just wanted everything to be okay. I should have told you," she said. Her voice cracked and she sounded like she was crying softly.  
  
"It's okay, I understand, I'm just confused right now and I needed to get away from everyone," I told her. Tears welled up in my eyes but I closed my eyes and squeezed them back.  
  
"Your father-Trevor, wants to talk to you," she said.  
  
I waited for him to come on the phone, "Hope," he said.  
  
I didn't say anything. I didn't know how he felt about me anymore. Did he despise the fact that my mother had had a child with someone other than him? Did he resent me for being that child?  
  
"I love you very much Hope and I just want you to come home," he said. He sounded sincere.  
  
"Okay, we will be back in a few days," I said. I didn't want to say anything else; I didn't know what to say. Of course I loved him; he had been my father for so long. I couldn't forget about everything he had done for me. He had been to every single one of plays I had been in at school. He had always been a good father to me.  
  
"Tell Colin and Tyler I miss them, I will be home soon," I said. I hung up the phone and sat at the kitchen table for a couple minutes just thinking about everything that had happened.  
  
Tyler was going to be on trial. That meant he could go to jail. I would have to testify since I was the only eye witness other than Jason and Tyler. I would do anything I could to keep Tyler out of jail.  
  
"How did it go?" Greg asked coming into the kitchen. He said he wouldn't call his parents. He knew my mother would tell his parents where we were. I knew how close he wasn't with his parents now. I hadn't realized before how little his parents knew about him. He didn't seem to care about them much either. I couldn't imagine not caring about my own parents.  
  
"Pretty good, we have to be back in a few days, Tyler is going on trial," I told him.  
  
"Wow, poor Tyler," he said. He sat down in a chair beside me.  
  
"He'll be okay, he won't go to jail," I said. I was sure he wouldn't go to jail. If he did, he wouldn't survive.  
  
"Hope, I'm sorry about everything," Greg said.  
  
I looked up at him. He looked so sad.  
  
"You didn't do anything wrong Greg," I told him quickly.  
  
"I'm just sorry about everything that has happened," he said. He took my hand in his and squeezed it.  
  
"Greg, I love you, and I am so grateful that I have you to help me with everything, I don't know what I would do without you," I said. The tears in my eyes were spilling over now.  
  
"I love you too," Greg said. He leaned closer to me and kissed me gently. "I'll always love you," he said.  
  
I smiled and threw my arms around his neck. I was crying freely now. I never thought he would ever say that to me. I thought we would never be together. We would always be just very close cousins, nothing more. I guess dreams really did come true.  
  
That night Fred ordered pizza and all four of us ate together. I was very comfortable in his house. I felt so welcomed there. Fred seemed genuinely happy to have us there. It was nice to feel needed and wanted. I hadn't felt either of those things when I left Duncan.  
  
Ryan and Fred seemed to be getting along really well. Ryan was okay with the fact that Fred wasn't his father and his mother had lied to him. He was just happy to have met Fred anyway.  
  
Fred told us what it was like when he lived in the trailer park with my mother, Tyler, Erin and Anthony. He was so ashamed of the way he was then. He told us he had been a drunk that practically ignored all his children. He said he and my Grandmother, Hannah had adopted Tyler and Erin when they were very young. He didn't tell us who their parents were and we didn't ask. It didn't really matter. He said he had become even more absent when my mother ran away. He said he had always loved her so much and he was devastated when she left.  
  
"That's terrible," I said.  
  
"I'm just so glad that I have been given a second chance and been able to have Skye forgive me," he said. He had a small smile on his face.  
  
That night Greg and I slept in the guest room together. We just lay in the bed side by side. Greg kissed my softly and I stared into his blue eyes. I saw how much he loved me. And I felt the same way. My small crush on Ryan had disappeared now that Greg and I had told each other how we felt.  
  
Greg and I made love for the first time that night. I was so happy after just lying there beside him. I realized then how sensitive and loving Greg could really be. He had always hid most of his feelings from everyone. He wasn't as cold as he liked to seem.  
  
The next morning I felt as though everything would finally be okay. The sun was shining and it was warm outside. The weather was reflecting my mood.  
  
"Hope, can I talk to you a minute?" Ryan asked after breakfast.  
  
We went out to the front porch and sat down.  
  
"I think I'm going to stay here and live with Fred," he said.  
  
"Really, that's great!" I exclaimed. I was happy that Ryan finally had somewhere where he felt he belonged.  
  
"We stayed up talking all night and he is lonely and so am I, we could really use each other's company," Ryan said. He looked at me for approval.  
  
"That's really great Ryan," I told him.  
  
"I wanted to thank you for everything you have done for me, I don't know where I would be right now if it weren't for you," he said. I could see tears shining in his dark brown eyes.  
  
"We have to keep in touch Ryan, I'll really miss you," I told him. I hugged him and suddenly he kissed me hard on the lips. I gasped and pulled away.  
  
"I-I'm sorry, I just wanted to thank you," he said. He stood up quickly and went back into the house.  
  
Greg stormed around from the side of the house and started walking quickly down the sidewalk.  
  
"Greg!" I called. I ran to him and grabbed his arm which he yanked back quickly.  
  
"I thought you loved me," he said angrily.  
  
"I do! Ryan was just saying thank you. It was nothing," I told him, "Stop, please!"  
  
"Just go back to him," he said.  
  
I stopped walking and cried out, "Don't be so stubborn, I want to be with you, not him!"  
  
He looked back over his shoulder and stepped into the street by accident.  
  
"You really expect me to--" he was interrupted by the blaring horn of a minivan.  
  
I screamed a second before the van connected with Greg's body. 


	11. Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten  
  
The next few hours passed by in a whirl of confusion.  
  
The man that was driving the van called 911 and the ambulance was there in a matter of minutes. When they arrived I was holding Greg's head in my lap. Tears were streaming down my face. Greg's eyes were closed and he wasn't moving.  
  
"Greg, please, open your eyes," I begged.  
  
He didn't open his eyes. My heart was beating so fast. I sat there with Greg sobbing until the paramedics arrived.  
  
"Miss, let us do our job," the paramedic said when I wouldn't let go of Greg. Finally I unwrapped my hands from his neck and stood back to watch them bring Greg back to me. I prayed silently as they loaded him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance.  
  
"I need to come," I cried out.  
  
"We'll be at Victoria Hospital, follow behind us," a paramedic said. He jumped into the ambulance just as Greg's heart monitor let out a fast beeping sound.  
  
"No!" I cried. The tears kept flowing as I ran back to Fred's house. I burst into the house and yelled out, "Ryan, FRED!"  
  
"What is it?" Fred came racing down the stairs. He looked so frightened.  
  
"Greg got hit by a car, we have to go to Victoria Hospital," I wiped away my tears so I could see more clearly. I had to get to the hospital as quickly as possible.  
  
"Oh no," Fred gasped, "Lets go,"  
  
Ryan came down the stairs behind him. He looked at me with such sorrow in his eyes that I almost stopped to ask him what was wrong. But I didn't, Greg was my priority right now. I had to be there for him.  
  
We sped to the hospital, Fred driving Greg's truck. We were lucky we didn't get in an accident ourselves because we were going so fast.  
  
I rushed through the hospital, not really knowing where I was going. I couldn't let Greg be alone; I had to be with him.  
  
Fred found out where he was and we were outside his room in seconds. The doctors crashed through the doors pushing Greg on the stretcher quickly.  
  
"Where are you taking him?" I asked loudly.  
  
The female doctor stopped, "Get him up there fast," she told the others.  
  
"Are you family?" she asked me. "Yes," I told her.  
  
"We have to operate on him, he has a few broken ribs that have punctured a lung," she said. I looked at her nametag and saw that her name was Dr. Lewis.  
  
"Is he going to be alright?" Fred asked.  
  
"We don't know that yet, we will do all we can," Dr. Lewis told us. She led us up to the surgery waiting room and left us to our own devices.  
  
I sat in the corner staring down at my hands. I felt so responsible for this. If he died I would never be able to forgive myself. I loved him so much and I never wanted him to be hurt. I didn't know what I would do without him.  
  
"Hope?" Ryan said. He was standing over me.  
  
"Not now Ryan," I told him. It came out sounding harsher than I intended it to.  
  
He sat down beside me anyway, "I have to tell you something," he said.  
  
"Ryan, I don't want to talk right now, I need to pray for Greg," I said firmly. I felt even guiltier sitting and talking with Ryan. I felt like I was betraying Greg again.  
  
"No, you need to hear this, even if this is the worst possible time to tell you," he said. To my surprise he took my hand in his.  
  
"Ryan-" I started.  
  
"I think I love you Hope," he interrupted.  
  
I stared at him in absolute shock. This could not be happening right now. I couldn't deal with this on top of everything else.  
  
"You are the most selfish person I have ever known in my entire life," I said in a low voice. I was furious.  
  
His face contorted into a look of surprise.  
  
"Greg is in there right now, he could be dying and it is our fault. He saw you kiss me and he walked into the street because he was so angry," I informed Ryan.  
  
"What-" Ryan tried to defend himself but I wouldn't hear of it. He couldn't get out of this now.  
  
"I liked you when we first met yesterday but now I know what you are really like. How could you possibly be in love with me when we have only known eachother for twenty four hours?" I asked.  
  
"You are an incredible person," he said.  
  
"Don't give me that crap," I growled, "you just want to make trouble for Greg and I. We are a couple now. We have loved eachother for so long. We are meant to be together. You are just someone who is too selfish to realize that the whole world doesn't revolve around you. What did you think telling me this would do?" I asked. "I don't know, I-" he stared. He let go of my hand.  
  
"Did you think I would just fall into your arms and tell you I felt the same way? Did you think I would leave Greg when he was in the hospital and run away with you? Because I won't. That will never happen," I finished finally. It felt good to get everything out. I needed Ryan to know that I would never be with him. We weren't even friends anymore as far as I was concerned. I would do anything it took to help Greg get better. He had never liked Ryan and now he wouldn't have to worry about him anymore.  
  
Ryan stood up and looked towards the door.  
  
"You don't have to feel obligated to stay. I don't want you here and I doubt Greg does either," I told him.  
  
"Well Hope, it was nice knowing you, give Greg my best," he said and he went to the door. He looked back once before pushing the door open and disappearing into the world.  
  
Fred looked at me in surprise. He hadn't known I could be so angry with one person. I had a lot of anger bottled up inside me from everything to my stepfather to Ryan. I took it all out on Ryan but I didn't have time to feel regretful right now.  
  
Dr. Lewis came out of the operating room and came over to me. She sat down beside me and smiled tightly. Fred came over and took my hand.  
  
"Greg is going to be okay, we managed to repair his lung and he will be taken down to recovery soon," she said.  
  
I let out a long whoosh of air that I hadn't realized I had been holding. I sighed in relief and hugged Fred.  
  
"Thank you so much," I gushed at Dr. Lewis. I was crying in happiness and relief now. I hadn't killed Greg; everything was going to be fine.  
  
I had to call my mother for the second time that day and I was just thankful that I wasn't calling with bad news. She told me Erin would be at the hospital as fast as she could and she said she loved me about a thousand times.  
  
"I love you too Mom," I said. I really just wanted to go home now. All my anger was gone. Some of it might have been aimed at the wrong person but right now I didn't care.  
  
I was allowed to see Greg a couple of minutes later. I crept into his room and almost cried when I saw how small he looked in the hospital bed. There was an IV in his arm and a white bandage around his head. I sat down on the chair beside his bed and took his hand.  
  
"Greg?" I asked, "It's Hope,"  
  
He opened his eyes into tiny slits and whispered, "Where is he?"  
  
"Ryan is gone, I'll never see him again if we're lucky," I said.  
  
He smiled a little.  
  
"Greg, I'm so sorry about this," I said. Tears came to my eyes again.  
  
"I love you so much, I want to be with you and nobody else," I told him.  
  
"Me too," he whispered. I leaned over his and hugged him gently so I wouldn't hurt him. I gave him a soft kiss on the lips and I heard something very quiet come from his lips.  
  
"Pardon?" I asked.  
  
"Will you marry me?" he asked.  
  
I stared at him.  
  
"Of course I will Greg," I said smiling, "There is nothing I would like more," 


	12. Chapter Eleven

Chapter Eleven  
  
Greg wasn't happy when I told him that his mother was coming to see him. He had no desire whatsoever to see her obviously.  
  
We decided we were going to be engaged just between the two of us. Neither of us needed the grief from our parents that we knew we would get if they knew we wanted to be married. We both wanted to finish school anyway. We had already missed a few days and I was anxious to get back and see my friends, especially Carly.  
  
The thought of going back to Duncan wasn't exactly a comforting one. We had run away from out problems and we realized now that we hadn't been right to do that. We hadn't accomplished much of anything except almost getting Greg killed.  
  
Despite the regret we both felt for leaving at such a time in our lives, we were happy we had met Fred. He was a very nice man. He was so lonely. He had made mistakes in the past but so had everyone else. He didn't deserve to live all alone with no family on Christmas and only a letter from my mother a couple times a year.  
  
He would have Ryan now, even if Ryan wasn't the most honorable guy I'd ever met, it would still be good for Fred to have someone around to talk to.  
  
I had calmed down quite a bit since exploding at Ryan and I actually regretted being so hard on him. He hadn't purposely made Greg see us kiss. When I thought about it now, I realized that he hadn't even known that Greg and I were together. We hadn't been when Ryan and I first met. Maybe one day Ryan and I could be friends again.  
  
"Greg?" a voice said from the hospital room doorway. I turned to the door to find Erin standing there with, to my surprise, Trevor.  
  
"Mom," Greg said. He didn't sound happy to see her at all but she didn't seem to notice.  
  
"Honey! Are you alright?" she cried, she ran over to the bed and almost tackled me to get to him, "My poor baby," she sobbed. I was surprised that she was actually crying. She never really seemed to care about anyone but herself.  
  
"Mom, please," Greg said, rolling his eyes.  
  
I turned to Trevor and he smiled tightly, "Can I talk to you?" he asked.  
  
I nodded and left Greg alone with his mother. We walked over to the green chairs and sat down. I didn't know what he was going to say to me.  
  
"Hope, I'm so sorry about everything," he said. He had tears in his eyes.  
  
I didn't say anything. I wanted to hear everything he had to say first.  
  
"I overreacted the night of the party, I never should have exploded that way. I love you like you were my own daughter and you have been since you were very small," he said, his voice cracking.  
  
I reached out and took his hand, "I love you too," I said, "You are the only Dad I've ever known and I still want to be your daughter," I told him. Tears crept up under my lids now.  
  
"You don't know how much that means to me," Trevor said. A tear ran down his cheek and he wiped it away quickly.  
  
"But," I added, "I want to know everything about my real father and what happened before," I said. I wasn't going to let my parents lie to me or keep the truth from me anymore. I was old enough to understand everything that went on, the good and the bad.  
  
"Okay, when we get home, your mother and I will tell you everything," he said.  
  
I smiled and let out a breath. I was finally going to know the full truth. No more lies and no more confusion.  
  
"How's Colin doing?" I asked.  
  
"He misses you," Dad said, smiling, "He asks every day when you are going to be home,"  
  
"I can't wait to see him again," I said.  
  
"There is one thing that you need to know before we go home," Dad said.  
  
"What is it?" I asked, concerned. What could it possibly be now?  
  
"Tyler has become even more withdrawn," Dad said, "When you left he blamed it on himself and he never even leaves his room,"  
  
"Oh no," I muttered. I couldn't believe that Tyler could become more withdrawn. He was already so quiet and gloomy.  
  
"He knows his trial is coming up and he is afraid, I think seeing you again will help him a great deal," Dad told me.  
  
"I want to see him soon, I hate to see him sad," I said. I had never been that close with Tyler but he was always nice to Greg and I. We tried to spend time with him. Greg was with him more than I was because he was always asking for skateboarding advice.  
  
"I'll go talk to the doctor about Greg," Dad said. He stood up.  
  
"Dad?" I asked standing up.  
  
"Yes?" he asked turning back to me.  
  
"Thanks for coming," I hugged the only father I could ever remember having tightly. He hugged me back and smiled.  
  
I glanced back into Greg's room. Erin was sitting beside him in a chair holding his hand. It didn't look like she was talking. Just holding his hand. Just being there for him. That was what Greg needed right now, someone to be there for him. Maybe Erin was finally realizing that.  
  
Dad came back a couple minutes later, "The doctor said Greg can go home tomorrow, he just has to spend some time in bed so his ribs can heal," he said.  
  
Dad and I told Greg and Erin that we were going to get a hotel room with enough space for Erin. But she said that she was going to stay at the hospital all night. Greg rolled his eyes at me but smiled anyway.  
  
We found a hotel room and went to sleep until almost eleven o'clock the next morning. I was jerked awake to the ringing of Dad's cell phone. He groaned and reached over to answer it.  
  
"Hello?" he asked, "What?" he sat upright in back, now wide-awake.  
  
I sat up and stared over at him. What was going on?  
  
"Okay honey, don't worry, we'll be home later today," he said and hung up the phone.  
  
"What is it?" I asked anxiously.  
  
He looked over at me sadly, "Tyler has killed himself," he said.  
  
The whole ride home was agonizingly slow. I wanted to be with my mother. She must be so devastated right now. I knew how protective she had always been of Tyler. She always felt like she needed to protect him because of what she did when he was only a child.  
  
I still couldn't believe that Tyler would kill himself. He was never happy but I didn't think he would want to do anything that would hurt my mother. He loved her too much to see her hurt.  
  
Dad told me that he had been found in the lake; face down. There was a suicide note in his pocket. I cried softly as we pulled into our driveway. My homecoming was not going to be a good one. Mom came running out of the house and she threw herself into Dad's arms sobbing uncontrollably.  
  
"Okay, Skye, it's okay, I'm here now," Dad soothed her, "Hope is home now, we are all going to be okay," he said.  
  
"Not Tyler," she wailed, "He'll never be okay again,"  
  
She spotted me and wiped the tears from her face, "Hope, I'm so glad you are home," she said. She held out her arms and I hugged her tightly. I could almost feel her heart breaking from losing Tyler. She had so much loss in her life.  
  
"Maybe it is for the best," she said quietly.  
  
"How?" I asked shocked.  
  
"Come inside," she said.  
  
We sat in the living room and she showed me the wrinkled suicide note along with a photograph. In the picture was Tyler when he was very young, even younger than me. He was with a girl about his age with curly blond hair. She was holding a baby that looked like me and Tyler was smiling down at us. He looked so happy. I read the note next. Everyone: I'm sorry for what I am doing. I just don't want to live any more without the people I love. Keely left me many years ago. I wasn't good for her after Derek died. With him around I felt like I could really stop worrying but he wasn't around anymore and the constant worrying returned. I don't want to burden you anymore Skye. Tell Hope I love her and if you see Keely again one day tell her I died a happy man. Tyler.  
  
"Who's Keely?" I asked when I was finished.  
  
"A girlfriend he had a long time ago," Mom said sadly, "He really loved her, he thought he would be with her forever," she said.  
  
"Did my father's death affect Tyler that much?" I asked.  
  
"Oh yes, he loved Derek, after he died, he was never happy anymore, he didn't even want to skateboard anymore," Mom said, "After a while Keely broke up with him, she moved out of town a little while after and he hasn't heard from her since,"  
  
"How sad," I said. But then again Tyler's whole life had been tragic. I hoped he was happy now.  
  
I went up to my room and looked out the window. I could almost see my little cave through all the trees. I prayed then that Tyler would be okay wherever he was. I prayed that he would never have to go through what he did in this lifetime again.  
  
"I love you too Tyler," I whispered into the breeze, "I love you too," 


	13. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
Tyler's funeral was a week later. Friends if my mother and father came to pay their respects. Greg and I stayed together the whole time. I could tell he was in pain but he refused to go home. He wanted to be there for me. And I was grateful for that.  
  
I was surprised to see Jason at the funeral. He smiled at me in the church and later at the wake he came over and talked to me.  
  
"I'm sorry for everything Hope," he said.  
  
"That's alright Jason," I told him. I was too tired to be mad at anyone anymore. I wanted to start fresh with all the relationships in my life.  
  
Jason left a little while later. He seemed a lot better than the last time I had seem him. Maybe Tyler had changed him. He seemed a lot more humble and not as cocky as he used to be. I wished him the best.  
  
As promised, my mother and Trevor told me about my real father. My mother cried the whole time. I could tell she had really loved him and she still missed him. He seemed to be a very good person. He had chased my mother after she left Toronto. He never gave up on her or their love even when my mother had. I wished even more that I could have known him.  
  
My mother told me later that she was glad to have known Derek even if it led to so much heartbreak later.  
  
"It's better to have loved and lost, than to never have loved at all," she said.  
  
Greg and I finished the school year with honours and spent the entire summer together. My mother definitely noticed how close we had become.  
  
"You and Greg are in love," she said one morning in September a day before school would start again.  
  
"Yes," I answered.  
  
"Be careful, don't make the same mistakes I made with your real father," she said. I knew she loved Trevor but she missed my real father and she would give anything to take back the hurt she had caused him.  
  
"I will be careful," I told her.  
  
So life went on. The house had a different atmosphere. It was more open and inviting now that the truth had been let out of the bag. We learned to remember Tyler but not dwell on him. I knew I would never forget him. I hung out with Colin a lot more because I knew how fragile life was and I didn't want to have any regrets when our time came.  
  
When springtime rolled around again, Greg and I were graduating from high school. We were both planning on going to York University in Toronto for school. I wrote a letter to Fred to tell him. I told him that we would visit once in awhile. He wrote back saying that he'd love to see us again and he and Ryan were doing very well together.  
  
"Hope," my mother called to me. I was sitting on the dock thinking about everything that had happened in the last year. She came down and sat beside me. She had been so much happier lately. I think the pressure of all the lies had been putting too much stress on her. Now she could relax knowing that Tyler was safe and the truth was out.  
  
"There is one more thing that I have to tell you," she said.  
  
I turned toward her and narrowed my eyes. I thought I knew all the secrets now. There couldn't possibly be more, "What?" I asked nervously.  
  
"You remember I told you about my grandmother, Maxine, right?" she asked.  
  
"Yes," I said slowly.  
  
"Well when she died, the same night as your father, she left her entire estate to you," Mom told me. She smiled.  
  
"What?" I asked in shock. I knew how big Maxine's house was. I knew she was rich and she had lived in the rich part of Toronto.  
  
"You are a millionaire Hope," Mom said.  
  
I was speechless. I had not been expecting this. I didn't know if this was a good thing or not.  
  
My mother told me that I would own the mansion in Toronto when I turned twenty one and that all Maxine's money was in a trust fund waiting for that same birthday. I still had three years to wait but that didn't matter. I wanted to go to school and experience the student's life. Right now I didn't think I would even want to live in Toronto so far away from my family. But maybe after Greg and I got married, which we were still planning on doing, we could decide our future together.  
  
"I have something to tell you too," I told my mother.  
  
"What is it Hope?" she asked.  
  
"Greg and I want to get married," I said.  
  
She stared at me a minute and then she smiled, "That's great! You two are perfect for eachother," but then her face darkened, "But honey, promise me you will finish school first, you have seen how sad Erin is because she has nothing to do but stay home and live through her son,"  
  
"I promise Mom," I told her, "We will be careful and make sure we do it the right way,"  
  
"Good," she said. She hugged me tightly.  
  
Despite everything that had happened, I knew that my mother loved me. She only wanted the best for me and so did I.  
  
When I had a family of my own, I promised myself, that I would always do the right thing. No matter how hard it was. The next generation of Jamieson and Cartwright's would not go through what the previous ones had to.  
  
Finally we would be happy. Finally.  
  
THE END!!  
  
***A/N***So there it is. I'm finished the series. Unless.maybe a prequel is in the works. I need a little feedback.should I write a prequel or is this the end of the Jamieson's? Let me know!! I appreciate every single review I have gotten from all of you. They have given me the confidence I needed to write this series. Even if this is the end of the Jamieson's , you have not seen the end of me. I will be back with more crazy VCA fan fiction ideas. Thanks everyone! 


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